Anyone out there know if the low beams stay on when high beams are turned on?
Thanks!
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They are on separately - usually bulbs are combo 60/40 watt. Where 60W is the high beam with distance reflector and the 40W low have a cut-off reflector. You can up grade to Halogen H4 and to higher wattage (but they may say for off road use only). Good to add relays and heavier gauge wire if upping wattage.
Thanks Wolfgang! Much appreciated.
I think on my Fiat the low stays on when I switch to high. I think it is all one beam with a shield that cuts off the high when running low.
Your Fiat is a modern car with two headlight bulbs - a low and a high. Old VW used a single bulb with 2 filaments. The low filament goes off when high is turned on - this is to manage the heat (and manage the beam pattern). Here's what I found -
Robert Black, former Chief Electrician's Mate EMC(SW/AW) at United States Navy (1980-2000) Answered Jun 15, 2017
If you only have one headlight assembly per side, there are two separate filaments. One for low beam and one for high beam. When you activate your high beams the low beam filament is turned off. That is why you see people on the road with their high beams on when one or both low beams burn out.
Here's link with more info -
I was in Germany in the late '70's and as a car guy was fascinated with very narrow streets in their old cities. Often when parked on the street at night, you'd pull up partially on the sidewalk and leave your turn sign on - the turn signal lamps would stay on but not flash (so minimal electric draw). They also had the equivalent of daytime running lights (DRL) but for head lights to be used in the cities at night. They didn't want normal low beam headlights bothering the residents in their homes built right on the edge of the streets. These were separate low wattage bulbs in the headlight assemblies called "City Lights." You can still buy these headlamps (Hella is one) - and use as DRL.